FESTIVAL COMEDY | Previews
TOP 5: SHOWS ABOUT DEATH Comedy to make you mourn
Jim Davidson’s Funeral Having faked a fight to get publicity last year, Ellis & Rose (pictured) walked off with the Malcolm Hardee Award for their spirited endeavours. This year, they’re dancing on the Fringe’s grave by hosting a night of various japes in a sort- of protest about a certain old-school comic performing for a month (clue is in the title). The Hive, 226 0000, 12 Aug, 8.45pm, free. Sarah Bennetto’s Funeral This should be a slightly less chaotic and generally more lovely kind-of wake as the Australian storyteller / comic looks back on her own life. Flowers are welcome. Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, 4–25 Aug (not 9 & 10, 16 & 17, 23 & 24), 10pm, £9–£11 (£7–£9).
Tony Law Renowned for his circuitous ramblings, we wonder if Mr Canada will be able to stick to the programme, which involves ‘the fear of death’. It’s time to Enter the Tone Zone, so it is. The Stand III & IV, 558 7272, 1–24 Aug (not 11), 12.10pm, £11 (£8). Preview 30 Jul, £9 (£8).
Robin & Partridge This pair might be familiar to those of you who attend things like Glastonbury and Bestival, and their hour is entitled Robin Dies at the End of the Show. Which may or may not be good news for Partridge. Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, 2–24 Aug (not 18), 2.15pm, £9–£11 (£7–£9). Previews 30 Jul–1 Aug, £6. Lost Voice Guy Last Fringe, Lee Ridley aka Lost Voice Guy had a memorable time. Memorable in that he was rushed to hospital and nearly died from pneumonia. Laughter is the Worst Medicine tells us that story. Assembly Rooms, 0844 693 3008, 1–24 Aug (not 4, 11, 18), 5pm, £10 (£9). Preview 30 Jul, £9 (£8). (Brian Donaldson)
44 THE LIST FESTIVAL 31 Jul–7 Aug 2014
IVO GRAHAM Posh and spicy chat from a comedy prodigy
Show titles Ivo Graham has reluctantly rejected include Privately Educated, Sexually Active and the brilliant Eton Mess. His debut, Binoculars, traced the 23-year-old’s distinct lack of success with girls and was, according to his father, his ‘one chance to present the most innocent version of himself’ before he began complicating the picture. This year’s follow-up, Bow Ties & Johnnies, is both
comprehensive, as he celebrates his relationship with a woman, and decidedly public school with this ‘outed’ Old Etonian lifting the lid on his exclusive education. Still, his new cocksure stage swagger is underscored with knowing self-awareness and his ready deprecation has never been cynical distortion. Those ‘little victories with girls as a teenager were such important, potent, nostalgic memories for me’, and yet his familiarity with the ‘young, male, socially awkward comic cliché’ meant Binoculars was time- lagged, a ‘slight betrayal’ of the fact that he’s now ‘a socially competent person’.
Although a late bloomer with women, Graham was undoubtedly a comedy prodigy. Youngest winner, at 19, of So You Think You’re Funny, he appeared as part of the Fringe’s prestigious Comedy Zone showcase before graduating from Oxford, fielding heckles like ‘fuck off you foetus!’. Deeply thoughtful about his vocation, he questions his ambition to perform relationship material, as a sort of comedic rite of passage, before he’d even had a relationship.
‘It’s pretentious to try and find it within yourself before you’re
there as a person, let alone ready to talk about it as a comic,’ he admits. ‘I was doing comedy clubs with three acts a night, some talking about it insightfully, others a bit more “take my wife!”. Ultimately, you do end up in a genuine relationship with issues, thinking “oh God, I know about this from being a comedian!” Which is truly odd.’ (Jay Richardson) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, 2–24 Aug (not 11), 8.15pm, £7.50–£10 (£6.50–£9). Previews 30 Jul–1 Aug, £6.
STEPHEN K AMOS Giving good chat and working in progress
Stephen K Amos seems to have found his Fringe groove, annually playing to an appreciative crowd at the Stand with a show that he will tour later in the year and hosting a chat show at the Gilded Balloon. Those separate events help him indulge his chief pursuits: both talking to and with people. ‘I think I’m a very good listener and I’m good in the moment and can run with stuff that happens,’ says Amos. ‘I’m not one of those cruel comics and I like to involve the audience in some way.’
For his work-in-progress hour, Welcome to My World, Amos will be tackling some big issues and looking to get his audience talking, but always keeping his eye on the joke in hand. ‘Even in this day and age, we still don’t like to talk about things such as race and sexuality or how much money you earn, all those awkward dinner party conversation fillers. There’s a certain weirdness that can spark up in those areas and that gives me a springboard to be awkward within the show and ask the audience the awkward, challenging questions. Ultimately, though, they’ve got to laugh.’ (Brian Donaldson) ■ The Stand III & IV, 558 7272, 31 Jul–23 Aug (not 11 & 12, 18 & 19), 9.05pm, £10; Gilded Balloon Teviot, 622 6552, 17–23 Aug, 4.30pm, £13–£14 (£11–£12).